If you are planning a trip to Puerto Rico, consider staying at the Caribe Hilton – a resort that offers history, a great beach, and a true resort feel just a short drive from Old San Juan. The hotel sits on a 17-acre peninsula that includes a beach, pools, nine dining options including full-service restaurants, casual dining and cafes, bars, lounges, and room service, a full-service spa, tennis courts, and countless other
amenities.
As the largest hotel in San Juan, it accommodates both groups and leisure travelers. For groups, it has 652 guest rooms and meeting and event space for gatherings of any size. Weddings and wedding receptions take place both outdoors in beachfront locations and in indoor venues including an elegant ballroom or small event rooms.
And families are more than welcome and can also enjoy the three cascading pools, and a splash pad for the kids.
The Caribe Hilton was the first international Hilton hotel outside of the continental United States. Founded in 1949, Puerto Rico’s government owned the land and promoted building a hotel there with the goal of attracting tourists. Conrad Hilton saw it as a great opportunity to expand the Hilton empire. With its location and generous resort ambiance, it attracted celebrities, politicians, and royalty, including Elizabeth Taylor, Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly, and former President Barack Obama.
Caribe Hilton offers ten novel food experiences where there is something for everyone. They range from Nectar Del Caribe’s breakfast buffet, Caribar – a destination bar with panoramic ocean views, Lola’s Puerto Rican Cuisine, the Italian Rustica Ristorante, Bagua – a poolside swim-up bar and casual al fresco restaurant, Mojito’s Caribbean Fusion, Morton’s The Steakhouse, Starbucks, Ice Cream and Cookie Co., and – of course – room service for the tired traveler.
No visit to the hotel’s many culinary offerings is complete without sampling the piña colada. In 1954 the hotel’s bartender, Ramon “Monchito” Marrero, created a refreshing drink consisting of coconut and heavy creams, and pineapple juice. He later added local rum, starting the region’s tropical cocktail movement. Today the hotel claims that more than 59,000 piña coladas are made yearly. In 1978 Monchito’s signature beverage was declared the official drink of Puerto Rico.
The Caribe Hilton offers guests many on-site and off-site activities, including guided island tours and excursions. This writer enjoyed an unexpected offering in the resort: the Live Bomba y Plena experience, where our group enjoyed an Afro-Puerto Rican cultural tradition complete with dancing and drums. From yoga to ocean adventures including snorkeling, paddleboarding, and kayaking, the Caribe Hilton offers plenty of diversions both on and off the resort property.
Ten minutes away is Old San Juan, whose people have a distinct cultural heritage, deriving from Spanish, Caribbean, and American history. Old San Juan’s colorful streets, history, music, ocean views, and great food are all packed into seven square miles. Visitors can sense both a historic city with a European background, a seaside town in the Caribbean that is home to the Spanish forts of El Morro and San Cristóbal, built to protect the town from invaders, and 16th-century Spanish colonial buildings and churches, including the San Juan Bautista Cathedral.
One must-visit site in San Juan is the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, which houses a mix of contemporary and historic pieces, many dating back to the 18th-century, such as the well-known painting The Daughters of Governor Ramon de Castro, painted in 1797. Another is the charming restaurant La Casita Blanca, known for its traditional Puerto Rican cuisine. After the Puerto Rican rapper, actor, and singer-songwriter Bad Bunny was spotted eating lunch there, this lovely dining spot became a popular tourist destination.
For more information, contact the Caribe Hilton at www.caribehilton.com.